Gò0dNews for Everyone
Brown Suede Shoes by Dr. James Hawkins
I
n 1955, Carl Perkins wrote a song titled, “Blue Suede
after my wife agreed to buy me more stylish shoes to
Shoes,” which became a hit for Elvis Presley. Blue
replace my long-time favorites. She did, and I must
suede shoes epitomized the high-class lifestyle that
say that I came to like her new choice as much as my
Mr. Perkins was satirizing. I never owned a pair of
old brown suede shoes. The new footwear became
blue suede shoes, but I did purchase a pair of two-
just as comfortable and eventually made me feel
tone brown suede shoes when I achieved a modicum
dapper once again.
of success as a young, twenty-something, low-level business manager.
Many of us have a pair of brown suede shoes hiding somewhere in the closets of our hearts. Our brown suede shoes are represented by things like old habits, judgmental attitudes, unforgiveness, ecclesiastical traditions, promiscuous thoughts, and other tawdry transgressions that we have become so comfortable living with that we are unwilling to give them up to the garbage collector. These spiritual brown suede shoes, if worn long enough, become an integral part of our personalities and fit us so well that we convince ourselves that we cannot part with them. It may take some strong conviction, even some heated discussions with the Holy
I loved my brown suede shoes, and I wore them
Spirit, before we acquiesce to the Lord’s persuasion
often. They fit perfectly, were very comfortable on
and rid ourselves of shoes that no longer fit our new
my feet, and made me feel “dapper.” I got so used to
character and calling. When we do, our Heavenly
my brown suede shoes that I wore them even when
Father will replace our old brown suede shoes with
they didn’t match the suit I selected for that day. I
more stylish ones like praise and worship, acceptance
kept those brown suede shoes well past their life
of others, freedom through forgiveness, the leading of
span. I even carried those brown suede shoes into
the Holy Spirit, purity of thought, and holy living. But
my marriage, and much to the chagrin of my wife, I
we must first make room in our closets for our new
refused to throw them away. By then, they had become
shoes by getting rid of our old brown suede shoes. It
a part of my body and an extension of my personality.
may be a painful parting, but it will be well worth the
Finally, after much “heated discussion” (my wife
effort when we are dressed in the likeness of our Lord.
my highly desirable brown suede shoes but only
40 // June 2020
About The Author
and I never argue), I reluctantly agreed to part with Dr. James Hawkins is a thirty-six year veteran of full time ministry. He lives in Cleveland with wife, Jennie. They are the proud parents of three adult children and seven grandchildren.
